Eastern Michigan Athletics
Eastern Michigan University
Ohio
Baseball Splits Doubleheader
4/15/2006 9:38:59 PM | Baseball
ATHENS, Ohio - The Eastern Michigan University baseball team split a doubleheader to Ohio University, 5-4 and 6-4 here Saturday afternoon at Bob Wren Stadium. The victory snapped a three-game conference losing streak dating back to April, 8.
EMU is now 15-16 (6-5 MAC) and with Ohio moving to 12-15 (5-6 MAC).
In game one, EMU tallied four runs on eight hits but committed two costly errors which led to a pair of unearned Ohio runs which proved to be the difference in the game. Eagle ace George Biddle (3-3) went 7.0 innings with nine scattered hits allowing five runs with two unearned. Junior Trumaine Riley led the Eagles offensively going 3-for-4 from the plate with one RBI and three runs scored. Junior Willie Walker went 2-for-3 with three RBI to lead the Bobcats while pitcher Derek Witt picked up his fourth win of the season going eight innings while striking out nine.
Ohio got on the board first tacking on three runs in the first though third innings with two runs coming off of Eagles miscues for a 3-0 lead. In the top of the fourth, Riley scored from third on a Steve Bradshaw base hit to cut the lead to 3-1.
Freshman Aaron Powell blasted a home run to right center in the fifth inning to the pull the Eagles closer at 3-2.
Ohio tacked on a pair of runs in the bottom of seventh inning via a Walker triple which plated both runs giving the Bobcats a 5-2 advantage. EMU responded getting both runs back in the eight with back-to-back doubles by Riley and sophomore Josh Ivan scoring sophomore Jeff Hehr and Riley to narrow the lead to 5-4.
The was as close as EMU would get as Ohio’s Chris Rigo closed the door on Eagles to pick up his first save of the season.
In the nightcap EMU was led by sophomore Jeff Fisher (6-3) who tossed 7.1 innings allowing three runs while striking out eight. Hehr and senior Isaiah Gainforth paced EMU from the plate going 2-for-3 with his first home run of the season and 2-for-4 with a home run (his third of the year) respectively.
The game started off as pitchers duel and remained scoreless until the fifth inning when junior Derek Lehrman doubled to left to score Powell and a Gainforth double to left scored Lehrman to give EMU a 2-0 lead. In the bottom of the fifth, Ohio got on the board with a run to cut the lead to 2-1.
A three-run Hehr home run in the sixth and a Gainforth shot in the seventh moved the Eagles ahead, 6-1. Ohio tacked on two runs in the seventh and eight inning to pull with two, 6-4, but it was not enough a sophomore Jeff Davis closed out the game for a 6-4 victory.
EMU and Ohio will conclude the weekend series on Sunday, April 16, at 1 p.m.
